Taipei spending report – another budget breakdown

$95 a day to live in China.

That’s what it cost us for the past month in Taipei, Taiwan.

Yes, Taiwan is part of China. 

The People’s Republic of China (PRC/mainland communist China) considers Taiwan a renegade province. The Republic of China (ROC/Taiwan’s official name) population prefers to say “we’re just Taiwan”. Fyi, there are actually 167 islands that make up the current ROC.

Technically, the two ‘Chinas’ are still involved in a civil war that began in 1927. In 1949 the ROC retreated to Taiwan from the mainland. No peace treaty or armistice was ever agreed upon. Ever since, the two Chinese governments and Chinese peoples have awkwardly coexisted.

We Earth Vagabonds have never been to mainland China – yet. A PRC visa starts at $140 per person; Taiwan is 90-days ‘visa free’ for USA passport holders. So we recently wrapped up a 28-night stay in urban Taipei — the ROC capital with a metropolitan population of more than seven million people.

Taipei spending

Below is the budget breakdown for our Taipei stay. As always, we kept meticulous track of our daily expenditures using our ‘Spending Tracker’ cell phone app – so we know the sums are accurate.

$1012  —  Housing

$283    —   Restaurants

$279    —   Travel

$270    —   Groceries

$241   —    Health

$197   —    Supplies

$184   —    Gifts/Charity

$70     —    Local transit

$68     —    Beer

$54    —    Excursions

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$2,658 :   28 nights  /  2 persons

$2,658 divided by 28 is $94.93 per day (for 2 people). That adds up to just under the $3,000 monthly spending goal for our continuing East Asia tour (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan).

Explanations / observations on Taipei spending

In my view, the main thing that jumps out of our spending report is the housing cost. $1,000 for nearly a month in central Taipei is a fantastic deal! Our Airbnb apartment was pretty basic, but we were thrilled to find it. (I did book about four months early.)

Here are links to the Airbnb listing and to a video tour of the modest living space. Plenty good enough for us vagabonds. (I noticed the Airbnb price has been raised going forward.)

Related: Continuous living in Airbnb

Our Taipei restaurant total is on the low side. The explanation: street food! Most every day we’d eat at least one meal at an outdoor food court or night market. In Taiwan, the carts and stalls and sidewalk kitchens are everywhere. And the prices are low. $8-$10-$12 and two people can have several satisfying snacks. A real sit-down ‘restaurant’ would be twice the price and up.

We needed a few dental and doctor visits while in Taipei. Thankfully, walk-in service is available at very reasonable prices (with decent English).

Finally, our flight to Taipei, Taiwan, China cost $250 for two people from Seoul, South Korea. Obviously, flying into the island from further away would add hundreds to the travel total.

In closing, we’ve again stayed on budget while enjoying another interesting foreign locale. Proof once more, that traveling — and living — outside the global north can still be done at a fraction of a western budget, even considering inflation.

As always, be thankful and generous; happy trails & more beer.

Life is NOW!

Thanks for reading, “Taipei spending report – another budget breakdown.”

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